Juan Rositas, 49, said he used firewood, a framing hammer and "whatever was at hand" in attempts to break up the pit bulls when they engaged in fierce fights.
Defense attorney Robert Ritacca initially had Rositas, who also is charged with felony domestic battery, take the stand to testify that he had never approved a search of his Waukegan house or backyard, where Rositas said he buried the dogs.
The hearing was held for a judge to rule on defense motions to suppress the search warrant and to dismiss some of the indictments against Rositas. Judge James Booras ultimately denied the motion, stating that a relative, who had common access to the property as a co-owner of the home, had given police consent.
Before the ruling, Assistant State's Attorney Jason Humke had the opportunity to cross examine Rositas. The prosecutor asked whether Rositas ever hit the dogs with a hammer.
"Whatever I had in the house to break them up," Rositas said. "When they got into it, they got into it pretty good."
Rositas admitted he struck the dogs with a "framing hammer" but said he never struck them with a larger sledgehammer, as a grand jury indictment alleges.
Responding to further questioning, Rositas said he buried the dogs in the backyard after they died, in accordance with a relative's wishes. He also admitted to taping the dogs' legs together, but said he did that after they had died in an effort to make them fit into bags for burial.
"I don't know how to bury dogs," he said.
Rositas was unclear when asked what led to the deaths of Toro, Bandit and Ranger. He indicated the deaths were the result of fights that took place after Bandit and Ranger broke out of their cages and fought with Toro, who had the run of the house.
When Humke asked about blood found on the walls and ceiling of the house, Rositas said it was from the dogs fighting.
"It took me, by myself, 10 to 15 minutes to break them up," Rositas said.
The dogs died at separate times over the fall and winter, according to prosecutors and Rositas' testimony.
Rositas faces several felony charges, including domestic violence involving strangulation of a family member and the torture and killing of the dogs.
He was indicted by a Lake County Grand Jury on charges of aggravated kidnapping, armed violence, aggravated domestic violence, unlawful restraint, and intimidation and stalking. Those charges relate to alleged action against the relative between April 5 and April 10 of this year.
According to the indictments, a machete was used to intimidate and control the family member. He also is accused of striking the relative in the head, indictments state.
In the deaths of the pit bulls, Rositas is charged with animal torture and animal cruelty.
The indictments include animal abuse allegations that Rositas "tied the paws" of Toro and then struck him with a sledgehammer, "causing extreme physical pain."
Rositas is accused of suffocating Bandit and striking Ranger with a hammer, according to the indictment.
During Monday's hearing, Waukegan Police Officer Kelly Gordon testified that she responded to the home on the afternoon of April 11 and found a woman in a car outside. Gordon said she was invited inside while the woman packed her belongings. A machete was confiscated at the request of the woman, Gordon testified.
Ritacca asked Gordon whether she had a search or arrest warrant when she entered the home and took possession of the machete. The officer replied that she did not.
Asked by Humke what would have happened if Rositas had been found in the home that afternoon, Gordon responded, "He would have been taken into custody for domestic battery."
Earlier in the hearing, Rositas testified that he previously left the home at the request of a relative and had been staying with his sister in Chicago, where he got a job. He said he turned himself in to Waukegan police after he received a text from a family member that a police report had been filed.
Ritacca has maintained that Rositas was overcharged in the case, and that improper enhancements to the charges were included.
Booras on Monday denied motions on those issues.
"I find the offenses are properly charged," Booras said.
Rositas, who is being held in Lake County Jail in lieu of $750,000 bail, is scheduled back in court Monday, July 20. His trial remains set for Aug. 3.
EARLIER:
During Rositas' arraignment, Judge James Booras outlined information from Lake County Grand Jury indictments including allegations that Rositas used a machete to intimidate and threaten an adult family member.
At one point, the family member was pleading for her life while Rositas was questioning her and threatening her with the machete, the judge said. Rositas then told the family member to stop pleading for her life or he'd "chop her up," Booras said.
Rositas also allegedly used the machete to keep the family member from going to the hospital, the judge said.
Booras said Rositas allegedly "tied the paws" of a dog named Toro and then struck him with a sledgehammer "causing extreme physical pain." Rositas suffocated another dog, named Bandit, according to the allegations, and a dog named Ranger was struck about the body with a hammer.
Authorities said the dogs were beaten with tools and killed between last Thanksgiving and Jan. 1.
(Chicago News Sun - July 13, 2015)
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